Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a storage medium, in which a user interface of a printer driver is activated in a different process from a process executed by an application.
Description of the Related Art
A printer driver has a dedicated user interface to perform detailed print setting. While an application displays the user interface of the printer driver via an operating system, the printer driver is loaded in a process executed by the application.
The user interface is displayed in a similar process to the process executed by the application. Therefore, intercommunication of print setting data is easy. A modal dialog for stopping an operation of the application is performed during an operation of the user interface.
The merit of executing similar processes is that the application and the printer driver can be treated as being integrated. If the user interface of the printer driver crashes because it has a defect, the application is also involved in the user interface crash because a similar process to the process executed by the application is executed.
A system for operating the printer driver and the application in different processes, which is called a sandbox, exists to cope with a problem of the similar processes. A browser having tabs, which can simultaneously browse a plurality of web pages, and operating the tabs in different processes, and an application, which is activated in a different process every time a file is opened, have been known.
Japanese Patent No. 4661939 discusses a printer driver that sets a rendering unit configured to convert drawing data of an application into a printer language in a different process, and activates an application for performing bidirectional communication with a device to sequentially monitor a status in the different process.
However, a measure to activate a user interface of the printer driver in the different process is difficult because an operating system constructs a user interface serving as a base and adds the printer driver onto the base.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-143664 discusses a method for activating another service when an application calls a user interface of a printer driver, and displaying the user interface of the printer driver by the other service. Further, a method for closing a user interface of a printer driver immediately after opening the user interface as a dummy, and then activating a different process has been known.
However, the method for activating another service by the application is required to make a change for all applications to cope with this calling method. Further, the method for opening the dummy user interface is troublesome for a user because it includes an additional operation for closing the user interface once.
In addition, if the operating system provides the user interface, and the printer driver adds the user interface as a sheet later, the operating system does not correctly operate.